DETAILED ACTION
1. This is a first Office Action in response to application no. 18/933,718 filed on October 31, 2024 in which claims 1-3 are presented for examination.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim interpretation
2. Patentable weight is given to data stored on a computer-readable medium when there exists a functional relationship between the data and its associated substrate. MPEP 2111.05 III. For example, if a claim is drawn to a computer-readable medium containing programming, a functional relationship exists if the programming “performs some function with respect to the computer with which it is associated.” Id. However, if the claim recites that the computer-readable medium merely serves as a support for information or data, no functional relationship exists and the information or data is not given patentable weight. Id.
Claim 3 is directed to a method of storing a bitstream into a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the bitstream being generated by a video encoding method. These elements or contents are not performed by an intended computer, and the bitstream is not a form of programming that causes functions to be performed by an intended computer. This shows that the computer-readable medium merely serves as support for the bitstream and provides no functional relationship between the contents/elements that describe the generation of the bitstream and intended computer system. Therefore, those claim contents/elements are not given patentable weight. Thus, the claim scope is just a storage medium storing data and is anticipated by Zhang (US 2014/0184740) recites a storage medium storing a bitstream See (Zhang [0015]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
4. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
5. Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhang (US Patent Application Publication no. 2014/0184740).
Regarding claim 3, Zhang discloses a method of storing a bitstream into a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the bitstream being generated by a video encoding method (See Zhang [0015] and [0023]).
Double Patenting
6. The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research
agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
7. Claims 1-3 are rejected on the ground of non-statutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-3 of U.S. Patent no. 11,570,461 to Jeong et al.
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1-3 of the instant application and claims 1-3 of Patent no. 11,570,461 are drawn to the same invention. A close look at the instant application will show that independent representative claim 1 of the instant application example, call for a video decoding method comprising: obtaining merge difference mode information indicating whether a merge motion vector difference is used to a motion vector of a candidate block determined from a merge candidate list for predicting a motion vector of a current block; when the merge motion vector difference is used according to the merge difference mode information, obtaining merge candidate information from a bitstream and determining a base motion vector from the motion vector of the candidate block determined, based on the merge candidate information, among candidate blocks included in the merge candidate list; determining the motion vector of the current block by combining the base motion vector and the merge motion vector difference of the current block, the merge motion vector difference being determined by using a distance index and a direction index of the merge motion vector difference of the current block; and reconstructing the current block by using the motion vector of the current block, wherein the direction index of the merge motion vector difference indicates a signed direction being one of a horizontal component of a positive sign, a horizontal component of a negative sign, a vertical component of a positive sign and a vertical component of a negative sign, the distance index of the merge motion vector difference indicates one of a sub-pel unit and an integer-pel unit, a first bin of the distance index of the merge motion vector difference is obtained by performing, on the bitstream, entropy decoding using context information, remaining bins of the distance index of the merge motion vector difference are obtained by performing, on the bitstream, entropy decoding in a bypass mode, and the distance index of the merge motion vector difference is obtained from the first bin and the remaining bins according to a truncated rice (TR) binarization method.
Claim 1 of Patent no. 11,570,461 calls for a video decoding method comprising: obtaining merge difference mode information indicating whether a merge motion vector difference is used to a motion vector of a candidate block determined from a merge candidate list for predicting a motion vector of a current block; when the merge motion vector difference is used according to the merge difference mode information, obtaining merge candidate information from a bitstream and determining a base motion vector from the motion vector of the candidate block determined, based on the merge candidate information, among candidate blocks included in the merge candidate list; determining the motion vector of the current block by using the base motion vector and the merge motion vector difference of the current block, the merge motion vector difference being determined by using a distance index and a direction index of the merge motion vector difference of the current block; and reconstructing the current block by using the motion vector of the current block, wherein a first bin of the distance index of the merge motion vector difference is obtained by performing, on the bitstream, entropy decoding using context information, and wherein remaining bins of the distance index of the merge motion vector difference are obtained by performing, on the bitstream, entropy decoding in a bypass mode.
Claim 2 of the current application calls for similar limitations similar to the limitations of claim 3 of Patent no. 11,570,461 where the claims 2 of the instant application calls for a video encoding method comprising: generating merge difference mode information indicating whether a merge motion vector difference is used to a motion vector of a candidate block determined from a merge candidate list for predicting a motion vector of a current block; when the merge motion vector difference is used, generating merge candidate information indicating one base motion vector from the motion vector of the candidate block among candidate blocks included in the merge candidate list; generating a distance index of the merge motion vector difference corresponding to a difference between the base motion vector and the motion vector of the current block, and a direction index of the merge motion vector difference; and generating a bitstream including the merge difference mode information, the merge candidate information, information about the distance index of the merge motion vector difference and information about the direction index of the merge motion vector difference.
Claim 3 of Patent no. 11,570,461 calls for a video encoding method comprising: generating merge difference mode information indicating whether a merge motion vector difference is used to a motion vector of a candidate block determined from a merge candidate list for predicting a motion vector of a current block; when the merge motion vector difference is used, generating merge candidate information indicating one base motion vector from the motion vector of the candidate block among candidate blocks included in the merge candidate list; and generating a distance index of the merge motion vector difference corresponding to a difference between the base motion vector and the motion vector of the current block, and a direction index of the merge motion vector difference, wherein entropy encoding using context information is performed on a first bin of the distance index of the merge motion vector difference, and wherein entropy encoding in a bypass mode is performed on remaining bins of the distance index of the merge motion vector difference.
Claim 3 of the instant application calls for storing a bitstream into a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the bitstream being generated by a video encoding method. Claim 3 has been treated a storage containing a bitstream where no processor is actively connected to the medium to execute the steps of the method.
The difference between the instant examined claim and the conflicting patented claim is that the conflicting patented claims is narrower in scope and falls within the scope of the examined claims. Therefore, a patent to the examined claim genus would improperly extend the right to exclude granted by a patent to the species or sub-genus should the genus issue as a patent after the species or sub-genus. See MPEP §804(II)(B)(1)
8. Claims 1-3 are rejected on the ground of non-statutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-3 of U.S. Patent no. 12,167,020 to Jeong et al.
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1-3 of the instant application and claims 1-3 of Patent no. 12,167,020 are drawn to the same invention. A close look at the instant application will show that independent representative claim 1 of the instant application example, calls for a video decoding method comprising: obtaining merge difference mode information indicating whether a merge motion vector difference is used to a motion vector of a candidate block determined from a merge candidate list for predicting a motion vector of a current block; when the merge motion vector difference is used according to the merge difference mode information, obtaining merge candidate information from a bitstream and determining a base motion vector from the motion vector of the candidate block determined, based on the merge candidate information, among candidate blocks included in the merge candidate list; determining the motion vector of the current block by combining the base motion vector and the merge motion vector difference of the current block, the merge motion vector difference being determined by using a distance index and a direction index of the merge motion vector difference of the current block; and reconstructing the current block by using the motion vector of the current block, wherein the direction index of the merge motion vector difference indicates a signed direction being one of a horizontal component of a positive sign, a horizontal component of a negative sign, a vertical component of a positive sign and a vertical component of a negative sign, the distance index of the merge motion vector difference indicates one of a sub-pel unit and an integer-pel unit, a first bin of the distance index of the merge motion vector difference is obtained by performing, on the bitstream, entropy decoding using context information, remaining bins of the distance index of the merge motion vector difference are obtained by performing, on the bitstream, entropy decoding in a bypass mode, and the distance index of the merge motion vector difference is obtained from the first bin and the remaining bins according to a truncated rice (TR) binarization method.
Claim 1 of Patent no. 12,167,020 calls for a video decoding method comprising: obtaining merge difference mode information indicating whether a merge motion vector difference is used to a motion vector of a candidate block determined from a merge candidate list for predicting a motion vector of a current block; when the merge motion vector difference is used according to the merge difference mode information, obtaining merge candidate information from a bitstream and determining a base motion vector from the motion vector of the candidate block determined, based on the merge candidate information, among candidate blocks included in the merge candidate list; determining the motion vector of the current block by using the base motion vector and the merge motion vector difference of the current block, the merge motion vector difference being determined by using a distance index and a direction index of the merge motion vector difference of the current block; and reconstructing the current block by using the motion vector of the current block, wherein the distance index of the merge motion vector difference is obtained by a truncated rice (TR) binarization method, and wherein the direction index of the merge motion vector difference is obtained by a fixed-length (FL) binarization method.
Claim 2 of the current application calls for similar limitations similar to the limitations of claim 3 of Patent no. 12,167,020 where the claims 2 of the instant application calls for a video encoding method comprising: generating merge difference mode information indicating whether a merge motion vector difference is used to a motion vector of a candidate block determined from a merge candidate list for predicting a motion vector of a current block; when the merge motion vector difference is used, generating merge candidate information indicating one base motion vector from the motion vector of the candidate block among candidate blocks included in the merge candidate list; generating a distance index of the merge motion vector difference corresponding to a difference between the base motion vector and the motion vector of the current block, and a direction index of the merge motion vector difference; and generating a bitstream including the merge difference mode information, the merge candidate information, information about the distance index of the merge motion vector difference and information about the direction index of the merge motion vector difference.
Claim 3 of Patent no. 12,167,020 calls for a video encoding method comprising: generating merge difference mode information indicating whether a merge motion vector difference is used to a motion vector of a candidate block determined from a merge candidate list for predicting a motion vector of a current block; when the merge motion vector difference is used, generating merge candidate information indicating one base motion vector from the motion vector of the candidate block among candidate blocks included in the merge candidate list; and generating a distance index of the merge motion vector difference corresponding to a difference between the base motion vector and the motion vector of the current block, and a direction index of the merge motion vector difference, wherein the distance index of the merge motion vector difference is encoded by a truncated rice (TR) binarization method, and wherein the direction index of the merge motion vector difference is encoded by a fixed-length (FL) binarization method.
Claim 3 of the instant application calls for storing a bitstream into a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the bitstream being generated by a video encoding method. Claim 3 has been treated a storage containing a bitstream where no processor is actively connected to the medium to execute the steps of the method.
The difference between the instant examined claim and the conflicting patented claim is that the conflicting patented claims is narrower in scope and falls within the scope of the examined claims. Therefore, a patent to the examined claim genus would improperly extend the right to exclude granted by a patent to the species or sub-genus should the genus issue as a patent after the species or sub-genus. See MPEP §804(II)(B)(1)
9. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
See the Notice of References Cited (PTO-892).
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GIMS S PHILIPPE whose telephone number is (571)272-7336. The examiner can normally be reached Maxi Flex.
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/GIMS S PHILIPPE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2424